look news india
It is the wish of every passenger traveling by Indian Railways to get a confirmed seat so that the long distance journey can be spent comfortably. But what if despite paying full amount from your pocket and having a confirmed ticket in your hand, you have to spend the whole night standing in the train? A consumer court of Bihar has given a big and historic verdict in favor of the passengers, blaming the negligence of Indian Railways in one such serious case.
Bhojpur District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Railways to pay huge compensation and refund to four aggrieved passengers who were denied confirmed seats. The court accepted that due to this gross negligence of the Railways, the passengers had to face serious mental, physical and financial problems.
Railway employees had taken possession of the seats
This entire matter is of LTT-Patna Express. The four co-passengers were traveling from Vindhyachal station in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh to Arrah city of Bihar. According to the complaint, when these passengers boarded their bogie, they were stunned to see the sight. Their reserved seats were not occupied by any outside crowd, but by some employees of the Railways themselves.
When the aggrieved passengers repeatedly requested the staff to vacate their seats, the on-duty staff completely ignored them and showed arrogance. When they did not get seats even after a lot of requests, these passengers were forced to travel the entire journey from Vindhyachal to Arrah standing. These passengers finally approached the Consumer Forum for justice against this mental and physical harassment.
Strict order of consumer court: Give compensation and interest also
A bench of commission chairman Krishna Pratap Singh and member Kamal Kishore Singh found North Central Railway and the Railway Ministry guilty after going through all the documents produced by the passengers. Complete details of the damages and refunds decided by the court can be seen in the table below:
| Compensation/Refund Details | fixed amount | Additional Terms and Conditions |
| Refund of original ticket amount | ₹1,876.80 | on this amount 8% Interest will also have to be paid at the annual rate. |
| compensation for physical and mental distress | ₹20,000 | This compensation has been fixed for the suffering suffered by the passengers during the journey. |
| Court Costs | ₹15,000 | To compensate the complainants for the expenses incurred in litigation. |
| Payment Deadline | 60 days | If payment is not made within 60 days, this amount 10% Will be recovered with interest annually. |
Passengers kept screaming during the journey, but no one listened to their complaint.
Another shocking thing that came to light in the complaint was that the passengers had made full use of digital mediums. He had lodged a complaint on the ‘Railway Seva’ app and the official social media channels of the Railway Ministry for help inside the moving train. He also got the message of complaint number (reference ID) on his mobile, but no one came to take care of him on the ground.
When the train stopped at Buxar station, he narrated his ordeal to a Traveling Ticket Examiner (TTE) present there. But instead of helping, the TTE made the excuse of huge crowd in the train and shrugged it off by advising the passengers to “manage” quietly.
Railways denied responsibility, but digital evidence exposed
Court rejected Railway’s claim:
During the hearing, the railway administration clearly refused to accept its mistake. Railway officials argued that this matter of forcible occupation of seats is directly related to law and order, hence the entire responsibility for this lies with the Government Railway Police (GRP), there is no lack of railway service in this. However, the consumer court completely rejected this argument of the Railways. The passengers had presented confirmed tickets, SMS screenshots of the complaint and photographs taken at the spot to prove their claims before the court. On the basis of these strong evidences, the court clearly said that not providing seats to the passengers despite having reserved tickets is a major deficiency in the service of the Railways.
This decision is an example for millions of railway passengers in the country who often become victims of unauthorized occupation of reserved coaches or arbitrariness of railway staff. Now after this order, the oil and railway administration will have to improve its internal system.
